Monday

 We are going to look at "Not My Best Side" activity, and then discuss enjambment.

HW: Start to outline a poetry explication on either "My Last Duchess" "The Flea" or "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock"

Enjambment is the continuation of a sentence or clause over a line-break.  Enjambment would fall under the category of syntax.

 

 

Why would a poet use enjambment?  To create interest by breaking standard syntax; to create tension; to create different levels or duality of meanings.

 

Questions to ask about enjambment:

 

Syntax: How do the poet’s syntactical choices change or expand the ideas in the poem?

1) Enjambment: How are lines broken? Are they broken before a grammatical or logical completion of a thought to create an enjambment? Or are they end-stopped, breaking after the completion of a sentence or other grammatical pauses? How does the use of enjambment create a duality of meaning in the lines?

 

 

No, enjambment is not always

better, but sometimes,

if you cut the line just

right, it produces a tension-

resolution effect.

 

Other times it makes the

lines harder to read.

 

Some poets break their lines

at exact syntactic boundaries.

This generates a high degree of predictability,

which makes the poem less interesting.

 

 

e. e. cummings as an example:

 

i carry your heart with me(i carry it in

my heart)i am never without it(anywhere

i go you go, my dear; and whatever is done

by only me is your doing, my darling)

                                                      i fear

no fate(for you are my fate, my sweet)i want

no world(for beautiful you are my world, my true)

and it’s you are whatever a moon has always meant

and whatever a sun will always sing is you

 

here is the deepest secret nobody knows

(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud

and the sky of the sky of a tree called life; which grows

higher than soul can hope or mind can hide)

and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

 

i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart)

A poetry explication is a relatively short analysis which describes the possible meanings and relationships of the words, images, and other small units that make up a poem. Writing an explication is an effective way for a reader to connect a poem's plot and conflicts with its structural features. This handout reviews some of the important techniques of approaching and writing a poetry explication, and includes parts of two sample explications.

Preparing to write the explication

1. Read the poem silently, then read it aloud (if not in a testing situation). Repeat as necessary.

2. Consider the poem as a dramatic situation in which a speaker addresses an audience or another character. In this way, begin your analysis by identifying and describing the speaking voice or voices, the conflicts or ideas, and the language used in the poem.

The large issues

Determine the basic design of the poem by considering the who, what, when, where, and why of the dramatic situation.

*

What is being dramatized? What conflicts or themes does the poem present, address, or question?
*

Who is the speaker? Define and describe the speaker and his/her voice. What does the speaker say? Who is the audience? Are other characters involved?
*

What happens in the poem? Consider the plot or basic design of the action. How are the dramatized conflicts or themes introduced, sustained, resolved, etc.?
*

When does the action occur? What is the date and/or time of day?
*

Where is the speaker? Describe the physical location of the dramatic moment.
*

Why does the speaker feel compelled to speak at this moment? What is his/her motivation?

The details

To analyze the design of the poem, we must focus on the poem's parts, namely how the poem dramatizes conflicts or ideas in language. By concentrating on the parts, we develop our understanding of the poem's structure, and we gather support and evidence for our interpretations. Some of the details we should consider include the following:

*

Form: Does the poem represent a particular form (sonnet, sestina, etc.)? Does the poem present any unique variations from the traditional structure of that form?
*

Rhetoric: How does the speaker make particular statements? Does the rhetoric seem odd in any way? Why? Consider the predicates and what they reveal about the speaker.
*

Syntax: Consider the subjects, verbs, and objects of each statement and what these elements reveal about the speaker. Do any statements have convoluted or vague syntax?
*

Vocabulary: Why does the poet choose one word over another in each line? Do any of the words have multiple or archaic meanings that add other meanings to the line? Use the Oxford English Dictionary as a resource.

The patterns

As you analyze the design line by line, look for certain patterns to develop which provide insight into the dramatic situation, the speaker's state of mind, or the poet's use of details. Some of the most common patterns include the following:

*

Rhetorical Patterns: Look for statements that follow the same format.
*

Rhyme: Consider the significance of the end words joined by sound; in a poem with no rhymes, consider the importance of the end words.
*

Patterns of Sound: Alliteration and assonance create sound effects and often cluster significant words.
*

Visual Patterns: How does the poem look on the page?
*

Rhythm and Meter: Consider how rhythm and meter influence our perception of the speaker and his/her language.